Mission: Tend to Sasuke!
by Queen of Chestnuts
Summary: Sasuke is very late for a practice sparring session one day. Kakashi-sensei and the others all begin to wonder where Konohagakure's number one ninja rookie is. Leave it to a fever to take down an Uchiha. Up to T rating now.
1. Chapter 1

**I had an itch for a particular type of fan fiction. Try as I might to find it, the site didn't seem to have anything that fulfilled the desire. So, I decided to make it myself. Perhaps this will scratch someone else's fan fiction itch. I hope so. 3 Idea came from talking to a friend who had a really bad fever, so badly that she told me she was crying and screaming a lot of the time… Tormenting characters is fun, but not IRL.**

**Also: One more week until I'm free from college for winter break! 3 For those of you interested in more… aggro, I guess, music, I highly suggest "Nurse Grenade" by Angelspit. Or if you're open to new musics. Or if I am your goddess and you love me that much.**

**All characters owned by… um. The people who own the Naruto series. Too lazy to go look it up, but saying it's not mine counts, right? I think this would be set somewhere not too early, but not late in the series either; a sort-of friendship has been established by they still don't work together too well. Naruto and Sakura don't know much about Sasuke.**

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**At first, no one had really thought much of it. Kakashi-sensei was late all of the time, Naruto occasionally late. Why wouldn't an Uchiha have the capacity for lateness as well? Sakura had complained about it, wanting to work alongside Sasuke rather than Naruto, but Kakashi would make her work with Naruto. All three needed some teamwork skills. Besides, Sasuke had proven that he could take care of himself. He was primarily out for himself, most days. Primarily being the keyword; sometimes Sasuke would show some inkling of concern for his friends, or, in his phrasing, "comrades". **

**The task was simple enough to understand: Sakura and Naruto were to take down Kakashi while he read the latest installment of the Icha Icha books: Icha Icha Dusk. He had to remember to have Jiraiya sign this copy as well, at some point. Try as they might, with Sakura's chakra control at her finest point yet, and Naruto launching as many of his substitutions at the elder ninja as fast as possible, Kakashi-sensei deflected their attacks and threw his students to the ground.**

**Naruto complained after a little while of the beat down. He was simply hungry. Sakura complained of the same problem, if only because it meant she wouldn't be getting thrown around by her teacher while she worried about Sasuke. Since she was focused so much on him, taking on Kakashi in a mere practice spar didn't seem important. Kakashi glanced once to the younger ninjas and decided to call a lunch break. It was then that Kakashi's horrible grip on time came to kick him in the teeth. He glanced once to his book to see just how many pages he had read. Between that and the fact that he had just called a lunch break for the kids… Sasuke was late, indeed. **

**Kakashi voiced his concern aloud. "Hmm… where is Sasuke? I know he's popular with the girls, but I don't think he would let something as trivial to him as a girl to stop him… not when his goals are so close to him."**

"**Ten ryo says that Sasuke is getting some kind of sadistic pleasure out of watching us fight each other and worry about him. I say let 'em be late." Naruto was quick to gobble up the rice from his bento.**

**Sakura was not nearly as nonchalant as Naruto was about this. She quietly took a drink of water, and looked back towards the village. "Sasuke-kun…"**

**Kakashi sighed gently, the heat trapping in his mask. "We'll head back for the village and go to his place. Even I've never been in Sasuke's apartment."**

"**At least you know it's an apartment, Kakashi-sensei. I always imagined he lived in some grand home with his parents, or something. Hey, since you know so much… what are Sasuke's parents like?" Sakura's eyes danced with a little curiosity.**

**Kakashi was careful with choosing his words at this point. Something as impersonal as the type of place where one lived in was one thing. Parents, however, were another matter. His eyes curled as he calmly smiled. "Perhaps that's something for Sasuke to answer rather than I."**

**As soon as Naruto finished his lunch, Sakura picked up her own pink-wrapped one and carried it back to the village with them, the three of them making some small talk over things like the weather and where they could improve in their sparring sessions.**

**Sasuke didn't live too far off of the main street of Konohagakure. Only a few minutes after entering the imposing village gate did they arrive at what Kakashi told the students was Sasuke's place. The tall man knocked twice. Waiting for a few moments showed no success at finding Sasuke. "Sasuke!" Kakashi calmly called, and knocked a few more times.**

**Sakura's fingers tightened around her water, while Naruto only let out a 'tch' and crossed his arms. The difference in their feelings towards finding Sasuke were clear. Kakashi took a kunai knife from his pouch and crouched before the door. He started to attempt to pick the lock open. "This is for a good cause, right?" Two blinks from Naruto. "Whatever makes you sleep better at night, sensei." The makeshift lock pick was successful; they could tell by a soft clicking sound escaping and Kakashi opened the door. Sasuke's apartment was simple: The largest part was one area that blended the kitchen and the living room. A short hallway with two doors, one door open and with a light on. Sasuke's bedroom was the door at the end of the hall. Furnishings were kept to a minimum, and everything was set up so that one could easily find whatever they were looking for. Ever the one for practicality, that kid.**

"**Ngh…" **

"**Hm?" Kakashi turned to glance at his students. "What's your problem, Naruto?" Naruto shook his head. "Wasn't me. Sakura-chan?" It wasn't Sakura who had done it, either. Kakashi blinked twice and glanced around the place once more, overlooking the wooden floors; perhaps there was a spot they stepped on that creaked accidentally. **

"**Kakashi-sensei, look." Sakura gestured to the door with light escaping easily from it. He stepped right over to it and peered in to see if Sasuke was there. "Ah, Sasuke, there you a--. Oh. I see." His eyes curled upwards. "I'll leave you alone for a moment." He stepped back with a quiet shutting of the door and looked at Sakura and Naruto. "Gross."**

**Naruto's arms crossed and he cocked his head to the side curiously, while Sakura's arms came close to her body and face, green eyes wide. The two spoke in unison: "what?" Naruto was wondering what would be so disgusting as to gross out Kakashi-sensei, while Sakura was more curious as to his general state of health. "Is Sasuke-kun okay?"**

**There was a wretched sound from the restroom, and the sound of something spilling into the waters of the toilet.**

"**Sasuke-kun is throwing up." Kakashi-sensei kept his eyes smiling even as he said that.**

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**I finished this chapter less than twenty-four hours after my freedom from college. n___n Do I get a cookie now? (this means I'll be updating twice today. Whoo!)**


	2. Chapter 2

Oh look, Chestnut is on a roll lately. Procrastinating on studying for my last final by being a geek and writing stories. Here's the next chapter of Mission! Tend to Sasuke. Naruto's quickly becoming the comic relief for this story... As for the fight scenes, anyone want to tell me where I can improve? It's not a main thing here, but just something I know I need to work on. Comments and critiques are much appreciated. *scrambles for lunch*

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"Oh, no…" Sakura's green eyes widened with concern. "Poor Sasuke-kun."

Naruto was less than sympathetic towards his teammate. "Getting sick sucks and all, but it servers him right for acting like he's superior all the time."Kakashi let out a gentle chuckle. "Naruto, you failed the academy graduation exam three times. Sasuke passed his the first time with noticeable ease. Academically speaking, Sasuke _is_ superior to you."

The garish blonde was literally floored, face first.

Examining Sakura's facial expression for a brief moment, the teacher sighed. "Anyways, this'll be a good time for you three to work on teamwork." Kakashi sat back in a singular wooden chair. "You two will be taking care of Sasuke until he's better."

Sakura's eyes sparkled at knowing she would finally and clearly one-up Ino and get Sasuke's full attention.

Naruto's reaction was a heavy sigh and a "What, for real?" face.

Sasuke emerged from the bathroom after having successfully emptied his stomach of all the contents remaining from the previous night's dinner. "Save your stupid pity. I don't need you guys to take care of me." Sasuke flicked off the bathroom light and started walking back towards his bedroom. "I'll get changed so we can get to training." His pajamas of no shirt and long loose black pants, while comfortable, were not for fighting or training in.

Sakura glanced down, upset at having lost the chance to nurse the ill boy, which aggravated Naruto.

He quickly rose from the wooden floor, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke's back and striking a pose as if ready to fight. "You know, Sasuke, it won't kill you to be weak for once! Act like a _real_ ninja already. Eat your superiority complex and accept some damn help!"

The only female among them was livid; she quickly launched a right hook at Naruto's face. "Naruto! Don't say stuff like that to Sasuke!" Inner Sakura was even more angered than her outside face implied.

Kakashi-sensei sighed, rubbing the back of his head. Analyzing the situation, he could be sure of three things; One, that Naruto's words were likely going to be like getting forced to eat sand for Sasuke. Two, that Sakura had a nice punching arm. The third thing was that Sasuke was likely going to shove back, being called out like that.

He really wanted nothing to do with this argument whatsoever, plus, if he left, Sasuke would be lacking any guidance in his training so perhaps he would take it easy. Kakashi slipped out during the short scene.

Sasuke didn't even turn around. "Shut up, Naruto." _**Run, run and cling to life. Hate me, become stronger than me, and kill me one day.**_Those words echoed even now in Sasuke's mind. Naruto had no idea what it was like. "I refuse to be weak and fall behind."

These words caught the attention of both of his comrades, stopping Sakura mid-uppercut. Sasuke went into his bedroom and closed the door.

"Nice going, Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "Sasuke's sick and now you've pissed him off!"

Naruto whined an apology, nose dripping snot and several bruised lumps on his face. Sakura continued shaking him anyways until Sasuke returned, trying his leaf headband around his head. Normally he would have had the gauze wrapped around his body, but today was simple. All he had was the blue shirt, white shorts and sandals. He didn't feel up to the challenge of gauze for the sake of aesthetics only.

"Stop it, Sakura. I don't want to clean up Naruto's snot and blood off of my floor all day long."

Sakura immediately dropped him. "Sorry, Sasuke-kun." Naruto's tears streamed on the floor until Sasuke called him a loser and told him to come along. Sakura was already right behind him.

"Where did Kakashi go?" Sasuke looked around, having expected their teacher to just be outside or somewhere nearby, but he wasn't in sight at all.

"So, what, no more training today?" Naruto grinned at the chance to have a day off.

Sasuke refused to hear such a thing. "We can make our own training regimen, then."

"Hey, I know!" Naruto exclaimed. It was agreed upon that the three of them would practice by sparring against each other. First, Naruto and Sasuke, because Naruto had always been eager to beat Sasuke in a fight. Then, Naruto and Sakura followed by Sakura and Sasuke. Whichever ones won two out of three would be the final match.

Sasuke felt dizzy as he and Naruto took their fighting positions. Sakura decided to cheer for Sasuke, though she knew she probably shouldn't be taking sides in a fight like this one.

Naruto talked a good game, but even when Sasuke was sick, Naruto got thrashed.

The sick nin had been pulling out all the stops to finish the fight quickly. Ten minutes in, it was over. Concentrating so hard on deflecting Naruto's thrown kunai knives had taken a lot out of Sasuke. Naruto called Sasuke a cheater and Sasuke dropped to his knees, looking down at the grass. "Ngh. Damn it."

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura approached Sasuke and kneeled before him, attempting to place her palm on his face to see how he was faring. Sasuke grabbed her hand and shook his head. "Sakura, stop." To him, sickness was just another chance to train. A ninja never knew when he might get sick in the middle of a mission.

She was thrilled that she and Sasuke's hands were touching, but miffed that Sasuke was acting this way. In the same moment, she was moved by his lack of caring. She thought it was cool. At the very least, though, Sakura had been allowed to help Sasuke came Naruto and Sakura's match. It had taken much longer than the previous fight. Mostly because Naruto wanted Sakura to win, but while still impressing the girl in hopes of finally changing the object of her affection. Taking the fight seriously, though, while Naruto went easy made him lose another fight.

Now all that remained was Sakura and Sasuke's fight. Sasuke quietly stepped forward into their sparring area. He felt exhausted, but wasn't going to back down or act like a coward. He would fight Sakura until he won.

His win had been… less than graceful, to say the least. Sasuke's powerful, controlled jutsus and Sakura's good control over her own chakra had managed to level the playing field where ninjutsu were concerned. It was Sasuke's taijutsu that allowed him to beat Sakura. Only by imitating Rock Lee's moves with his own twist on them got Sakura knocked to the ground, a drained Sasuke over the girl's body. He dropped face-first into her stomach, eyes closed.

"Sasuke…" Sakura propped herself on her right elbow and placed the left hand on his face. "Ah! Naruto, help me out over here!" Seeing Sasuke passed out at least got his attention and he quickly dashed over, helping to pull Sasuke off.

"Oh crap, Sasuke's gonna die!" Naruto flailed about uselessly. He wanted to be the one that killed Sasuke, not a random sickness. "Don't die Sasuke!" Sakura kicked him for his idiocy. "Shut up, Naruto! Go find Kakashi-sensei, or someone that can help us out. Go!" She shooed him off quickly and Naruto took off on all fours to look for someone that could help.

Sakura looked down at the male on the ground and placed one hand on his head. "Sasuke-kun…" Sakura moved a lock of dark hair out of Sasuke's face. "Please be okay. You have to be okay… I can't deal with Naruto's stupidity on my own." While he was out, she leaned forward and placed a soft "get well soon" kiss on his forehead. She pulled some gauze from her bag and did what she could with what she had: Using the water bottle from earlier and using some of the gauze as cloth she made a small wet rag for Sasuke's forehead.

Naruto found Kakashi, seeing him peeking into a book store at the advertisement for the next Icha Icha novel that was to be out in a few weeks. The teacher smiled at thinking about what Jiraiya might have in store for his readers now.

"Kakashi-sensei, quit being a pervert and come on! Sasuke passed out!"

He shook his head lightly. "See, that's why I left. I didn't want him to push himself too hard… " He groaned but went to Sakura and Sasuke with Naruto, right behind him.

Sakura had barely moved until she saw Kakashi and Naruto returning. She stood up and asked what he thought they should do. "Kakashi-sensei…"

At least Kakashi remained calm in this situation. "We'll take him back to his place." He picked up Sasuke and hoisted him over his shoulder, groping his pockets for a key. "And you two will watch over him and make sure he doesn't get stupid twice in a day." Since it was nearing four in the afternoon, there wasn't a lot of time for him to get stupid, but with Sasuke, it was still a possibility.

Sakura swore to watch over Sasuke as long as he needed to be cared for, and Naruto agreed to do so as well, less begrudgingly this time. Kakashi found the key in Sasuke's front left pocket, and they took the boy back to his apartment. Kakashi took him back to his room, the only thing in his bedroom being a rolled-up futon and one dark wood dresser. Talk about simple and traditional.

"His room suits him, huh?" Naruto pushed the futon on the ground and kicked it open to roll it out, opening up a bed for Sasuke.

Well, his question was pretty much ignored, though they kind of agreed. Kakashi set Sasuke down and had Sakura replace the soaked gauze with proper cloth. "I'll stay nearby so if you guys need anything you can find me. Take care of him, you two."

Then Kakashi-sensei left the bedroom, and the apartment, leaving Sakura and Naruto with an unconscious Sasuke.


End file.
